Tom Perriello

Former congressman from Virginia, Tom Perriello, just back from his visit to the Middle East, says the promising signs and unbelievable needs in Egypt speak to the necessity of maintaining funds in the U.S. budget for diplomacy and international aid.

David Halperin

David Halperin is a Senior Vice President at American Progress and the Director of Campus Progress, the Center’s dynamic effort to help young people make their voices heard on issues that matter and to empower new generations of progressive leaders.

Charlie Cook

Charlie Cook is Editor and Publisher of the Cook Political Report and a political analyst for NBC News and National Journal, where he writes a twice weekly column. Charlie is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities on American politics and U.S. elections. Here he talks with Bill Press about the 2012 Presidential Race.

Jim Hightower has spent three decades battling the "powers that be on behalf of the powers that ought to be."

Twice elected Texas Agriculture Commissioner, Hightower believes that the true political spectrum is not right to left but top to bottom, and he has become a leading national voice for the 90 percent of the public who no longer find themselves within shouting distance of the Washington and Wall Street powers at the top.

As political columnist Molly Ivins said, "If Will Rogers and Mother Jones had a baby, Jim Hightower would be that rambunctious child — mad as hell, with a sense of humor."

To read his latest commentaries and subscribe to his monthly Hightower Lowdown, go to www.JimHightower.com.